Smith holds out hope for Kallis

Jacques Kallis will play in the third Test in Perth if he is fit enough to bat and field, although he will definitely not bowl. South Africa called up allrounder Ryan McLaren as cover but are hopeful Kallis will be ready to bat at No.4, even after it was revealed that he would have exacerbated his hamstring injury by batting in both innings to help save the Adelaide Test.

Kallis batted nearly two hours in the first innings for 58, and for two and a half hours in the second to make 47. He came in at No. 9 and No. 7 and had match-saving partnerships with Faf du Plessis on each occasion.

Not one to show much emotion, Kallis was in discomfort throughout his time at the crease and battled to run between the wickets. Still, he told team-mates the injury did not cause him even a fraction of the pain he had suffered during a century with a side strain against India in January 2011. Kallis was on the physiotherapist Brandon Jackson's bench for many hours of this Test and will spend more time there in the next three days.

"I know he [Kallis] is working hard with Jacko and I know he wants to be a part of Perth," Graeme Smith said after his team drew the second Test. "He is definitely not going to bowl but he could play as a batter."

If Kallis plays purely as a batsman, South Africa's strategy would be different to the one Australia employed with their allrounder Shane Watson. A calf injury had ruled Watson out of the first Test and team management had indicated he would be recalled for the second only if he could bat and bowl.

South Africa also have top-order batsman Dean Elgar in the squad as a possible replacement for Kallis, but Smith said they had not made a decision about who will step in if necessary. "If he [Kallis] is not fit, we will deal with it in the same way we have dealt with the other things that have dealt us a curve ball in the series," Smith said.

South Africa had suffered a major blow when they lost JP Duminy to a ruptured Achilles' tendon after the first day of the Brisbane Test. They had to play with ten men for the rest of the match and were short a spinner in the attack. They were dealt a less severe blow when Kallis left the field after bowling 3.3 overs in Adelaide. Although he could not bowl, Kallis was cleared to bat in both innings.

The Kallis injury occurred a few hours after Vernon Philander had been ruled out of the second Test with lower-back spasms that he sustained overnight. Philander was expected to recover in time for the Perth Test but given the bad luck South Africa have had in Australia, Smith was reserved about clearing him to play. "He is bowling and we expect him to fully fit for Perth. When we toss the coin, I will tell you if everything is fine."

@CricHorizon on (November 26 2012, 12:13 PM GMT)
dean elgar should come in for rudolph, and philander for tahir. then the bowling line up looks like steyn, morkel, philander, kleinveld and part timers faf and elgar. rudolph is undoubtedly the weakest link in the batting line up.

Thats my team too, best team to pick as it has pleny of seam and spin options. The problem is they wont drop Rudolph and have a horrible feeling they will stick with Tahir.

Kallis to me seems to be getting better and better with age and T20 definetly made him a more entertaining batter, lets not forget he still bowls at 140 kph, before he pulled his hammy he had the Ozzie batsmen in trouble. 2/17

Robster1
on November 27, 2012, 3:05 GMT

King Kallis is truly quite irreplaceable.

Meety
on November 27, 2012, 1:21 GMT

I think Kallis has NOT been fit since the start of the tour. So I think the gamble very nearly backfired on Sth Africa - they should get no sympathy IF Kaliis plays at the WACA & is re-injured. Oz would of loved to have played Watto - (a lessor quality version of Kallis), but ruled him out.
@jmcilhinney on (November 26 2012, 13:05 PM GMT) - I owuld rate the Patto injury as the most impacting injury of the series. Many people were saying that Sth Africa have been hurt by not having JP Duminy bowling & Kallis who at the end of the day gets less than 2 wickets a Test. Sth Africa have had 7 batting slots & 4 bowling slots. Apart from briefly with Steyn - they had full acces to all their bowling assets, Oz had one quarter of their bowling options unavailable for nearly 200 overs. The impact blunted Oz's chances of pushing for a win.

on November 26, 2012, 23:21 GMT

This highlights the farce of removing the option of having a runner - someone is going to get severely, perhaps permanently, injured as a result of this move. If they had to remove it they should have added the option of having a replacement.

alfredmynn
on November 26, 2012, 21:47 GMT

@argylep and @flavoidastic - completely agree. He's a legend of the game, ranks with G. Pollock and B. Richards among South Africa's best batsmen and vies with Sobers for the title of greatest all-rounder. AND is a modest, self-effacing gentleman to boot. I'm sure his supporters are many. It's just that they (like the man himself) are not as vocal as those of other far less deserving players.

wiseshah
on November 26, 2012, 20:12 GMT

Kallis's bowling form is superb since t20 world cup, his batting is also picked in this series, hopefully he is fit enough to bat. Kallis, watson and shakib are 3 best allrounder in the world. Tahir probably played his last match for saf, i am sure robin pietersen will replace him in the next match. My line up: smith, pietersen, amla,kallis, faf du, de villiers, dean elgar, vernon phillander, morkel, steyn, robin pietersen. That means rudolph had enough chances

SurlyCynic
on November 26, 2012, 19:15 GMT

Hilarious to compare the selection issues of Watson with Kallis, as Kallis averages over 57 and Watson is a one-day slogger. If Petersen is selected for Tahir that strengthens the batting even more, so it could be possible to select Tsolekile (despite his unacceptable batting) and lighten the load on AB. The sooner De Kock is brought into the setup the better - he bats at #4 for his province as a keeper and is 19.

on November 26, 2012, 17:01 GMT

I my thinking; South Africa 11 for Perth test shold be 1) Smith 2) Peterson 3) Amla 4) Kallis (if available) otherwise Rudolph or Elgar 5) AB deVilliers 6) Du Plesis 7) Philandar 8) R Peterson 9) Tsolike 10) Styne 11) M morkal
There should be no place for Rudolh and Tahir if every 1 is fit in the squad.... South Africa is currently number 1 side in the world and they should go with the Real Fighters not with the Losers. As a South African cricket team fan, I am missing Duminy badly...

on November 26, 2012, 15:18 GMT

Superb fight shown by the Saffas. Next test I'm thinking philander would replace kliendvelt and maybe peterson for tahir. Think they should try out the specialist keeper tsolekile and drop rudolph...

on November 27, 2012, 7:48 GMT

simple - drop Rudolph (a passenger of note and I don't know why he's been in the team for this long? ) + drop Tahir, he's had enough chances and should hopefully NEVER play for the Proteas again.

@CricHorizon on (November 26 2012, 12:13 PM GMT)
dean elgar should come in for rudolph, and philander for tahir. then the bowling line up looks like steyn, morkel, philander, kleinveld and part timers faf and elgar. rudolph is undoubtedly the weakest link in the batting line up.

Thats my team too, best team to pick as it has pleny of seam and spin options. The problem is they wont drop Rudolph and have a horrible feeling they will stick with Tahir.

Kallis to me seems to be getting better and better with age and T20 definetly made him a more entertaining batter, lets not forget he still bowls at 140 kph, before he pulled his hammy he had the Ozzie batsmen in trouble. 2/17

Robster1
on November 27, 2012, 3:05 GMT

King Kallis is truly quite irreplaceable.

Meety
on November 27, 2012, 1:21 GMT

I think Kallis has NOT been fit since the start of the tour. So I think the gamble very nearly backfired on Sth Africa - they should get no sympathy IF Kaliis plays at the WACA & is re-injured. Oz would of loved to have played Watto - (a lessor quality version of Kallis), but ruled him out.
@jmcilhinney on (November 26 2012, 13:05 PM GMT) - I owuld rate the Patto injury as the most impacting injury of the series. Many people were saying that Sth Africa have been hurt by not having JP Duminy bowling & Kallis who at the end of the day gets less than 2 wickets a Test. Sth Africa have had 7 batting slots & 4 bowling slots. Apart from briefly with Steyn - they had full acces to all their bowling assets, Oz had one quarter of their bowling options unavailable for nearly 200 overs. The impact blunted Oz's chances of pushing for a win.

on November 26, 2012, 23:21 GMT

This highlights the farce of removing the option of having a runner - someone is going to get severely, perhaps permanently, injured as a result of this move. If they had to remove it they should have added the option of having a replacement.

alfredmynn
on November 26, 2012, 21:47 GMT

@argylep and @flavoidastic - completely agree. He's a legend of the game, ranks with G. Pollock and B. Richards among South Africa's best batsmen and vies with Sobers for the title of greatest all-rounder. AND is a modest, self-effacing gentleman to boot. I'm sure his supporters are many. It's just that they (like the man himself) are not as vocal as those of other far less deserving players.

wiseshah
on November 26, 2012, 20:12 GMT

Kallis's bowling form is superb since t20 world cup, his batting is also picked in this series, hopefully he is fit enough to bat. Kallis, watson and shakib are 3 best allrounder in the world. Tahir probably played his last match for saf, i am sure robin pietersen will replace him in the next match. My line up: smith, pietersen, amla,kallis, faf du, de villiers, dean elgar, vernon phillander, morkel, steyn, robin pietersen. That means rudolph had enough chances

SurlyCynic
on November 26, 2012, 19:15 GMT

Hilarious to compare the selection issues of Watson with Kallis, as Kallis averages over 57 and Watson is a one-day slogger. If Petersen is selected for Tahir that strengthens the batting even more, so it could be possible to select Tsolekile (despite his unacceptable batting) and lighten the load on AB. The sooner De Kock is brought into the setup the better - he bats at #4 for his province as a keeper and is 19.

on November 26, 2012, 17:01 GMT

I my thinking; South Africa 11 for Perth test shold be 1) Smith 2) Peterson 3) Amla 4) Kallis (if available) otherwise Rudolph or Elgar 5) AB deVilliers 6) Du Plesis 7) Philandar 8) R Peterson 9) Tsolike 10) Styne 11) M morkal
There should be no place for Rudolh and Tahir if every 1 is fit in the squad.... South Africa is currently number 1 side in the world and they should go with the Real Fighters not with the Losers. As a South African cricket team fan, I am missing Duminy badly...

on November 26, 2012, 15:18 GMT

Superb fight shown by the Saffas. Next test I'm thinking philander would replace kliendvelt and maybe peterson for tahir. Think they should try out the specialist keeper tsolekile and drop rudolph...

GlobalCricketLover
on November 26, 2012, 13:57 GMT

As we have seen in the two innings, Kallis on one leg is way better than others on two legs (e.g. Rudolph). Ian Chappell's opinion (during commentary) is spot on in this regard. I still can't believe how the Aussies are making a mockery of themselves by saying 'Watson can play only as an allrounder'. If he is fit to bat, he is definitely more valuable than Quiney - by a mile!

cric_fan_sam
on November 26, 2012, 13:42 GMT

SA should drop Tahir in Perth and bring in Philander if he is fit, or else they can pick Mclaren. If Kallis is not fit enough to play as a batsman, they should opt for Robin Peterson at #7, with Du Plessis moving up to #4, AB & Rudolph can bat at 5 and 6

Gordo85
on November 26, 2012, 13:22 GMT

To me if Kallis stays in the team I would like the idea of McLaren to replace Tahir or the real wicketkeeper.
But if they go in without a spin bowler at all in Perth they better be ready to let Faf bowl again and in this Test he didn't get it really right.
But atleast the option is there.
Just make sure he does some practice in the nets in the lead up to the next Test.
I was at the Adelaide Test for the first two days and it was great to see Kallis on fire with the ball.
Of course though I didn't see him bat.
I never fully wrote the South Africans off, I knew that they could draw the game and I was so pleased to see that they did it.
Australia got complacent and thought they had it in the bag.

argylep
on November 26, 2012, 13:08 GMT

@ flavoidastic.. Rest easy as even tho' this website & forums have sometimes
been less than effusive about their praise for this man to say nothing of the
past/present pundits & correspondents who've written questionable articles on
and about him he was before this match and will remain after he's retired a true
undeniable great of the game. He is a COLUSSUS for SA cricket!! - the best
batsman they've ever produced and in terms of bald statistics quite simply the
greatest cricketer to have played the modern game. However it will only be
when he's finished will he receive the plaudits he richly deserves. Not only is he
a phenomenal player on the field he is also a class act off as not only do I
regard myself very fortunate to have watched such a great batsman - easily
the best white one I've ever seen - and get big runs everytime but humbled to
have met, spoken, and shared all things cricket with him.

jmcilhinney
on November 26, 2012, 13:05 GMT

It's really quite scary that Kallis has been one of the best few batsman in the world for so long, if not the best, and yet is probably the best fifth bowler going too and could probably make quite a few four-man attacks around the world too. What a talent! There's no doubt that losing Pattinson was a blow to Australia that may well have cost them this last Test match but Kallis could have contributed more for SA in all four innings without his injury so it's debatable which was worse for their team.

anton1234
on November 26, 2012, 12:13 GMT

I think Kallis will play and more of his last few years (barring injury forcing retirement) as a batsman rather than as an allrounder. I think he will give himself every chance of overtaking Tendulkar in the alltime centuries list if he concentrates on batting alone. But I have a feeling he will want to get to 300 test wickets (18 away, which will probably take 5 to 7 matches when he starts bowling again) before he gives up bowling completely.

ozwriter
on November 26, 2012, 12:13 GMT

dean elgar should come in for rudolph, and philander for tahir. then the bowling line up looks like steyn, morkel, philander, kleinveld and part timers faf and elgar. rudolph is undoubtedly the weakest link in the batting line up.

ihaq1
on November 26, 2012, 11:13 GMT

south africa should also drop imran tahir and give peterson the spinners mantle

ihaq1
on November 26, 2012, 11:11 GMT

south africans should do something about abie de villers...maybe play the other wicketkeeper and tell him to just do batting practice for three days

flavoidastic
on November 26, 2012, 10:55 GMT

South Africa, being a strong side still depends so much on Kallis, speaks volumes about the quality of this player.I wonder why his name does not appear in all time greats??

Unomaas
on November 26, 2012, 10:20 GMT

I think the Saffa's are slowly trying to comprehend a existance without Jacques Kallis ( I know I am). I think the whole world is starting to comprehend the greatness of the man! You can ask many Saffa's...but just knowing that Jacques Kallis was gonna walk in at seven, was one of the most calming events ever! If that had not been the case, I'm sure us Saffa's would have been resigned to defeat!

So what if Jacques Kallis had to walk in at 5, 6, or 7? Think about it...wouldn't that be a more traditional spot for a batting all rounder? I feel that with Kallis getting on in age, we need to blood a new number 4. AB is the next best candidate. If Kallis does bat at 5 or lower, he will insulate the top order from a batting collapse which should give players like AB, Faf, Duminy the confidence to play their natural attacking game with the re-assurance of Kallis to follow. Question is, would Kallis be receptive to such a change? Would his ego allow it?

goutamaniad
on November 26, 2012, 8:54 GMT

His team hadn't choked under the pressure of the situation, and nor that of the opposition. It has been rare during his career, but he's tasted the fruits of determination, when with their backs to the wall, to not LOSE!

Here's hoping he, along with his teammates, will benefit from the experience in the short run. The Oz cricketers of the 1990s did.

Soso_killer
on November 26, 2012, 8:25 GMT

A draw was a fair result on this "flat pitch", neither team looked like winning nor losing to be fair

No featured comments at the moment.

Soso_killer
on November 26, 2012, 8:25 GMT

A draw was a fair result on this "flat pitch", neither team looked like winning nor losing to be fair

goutamaniad
on November 26, 2012, 8:54 GMT

His team hadn't choked under the pressure of the situation, and nor that of the opposition. It has been rare during his career, but he's tasted the fruits of determination, when with their backs to the wall, to not LOSE!

Here's hoping he, along with his teammates, will benefit from the experience in the short run. The Oz cricketers of the 1990s did.

Unomaas
on November 26, 2012, 10:20 GMT

I think the Saffa's are slowly trying to comprehend a existance without Jacques Kallis ( I know I am). I think the whole world is starting to comprehend the greatness of the man! You can ask many Saffa's...but just knowing that Jacques Kallis was gonna walk in at seven, was one of the most calming events ever! If that had not been the case, I'm sure us Saffa's would have been resigned to defeat!

So what if Jacques Kallis had to walk in at 5, 6, or 7? Think about it...wouldn't that be a more traditional spot for a batting all rounder? I feel that with Kallis getting on in age, we need to blood a new number 4. AB is the next best candidate. If Kallis does bat at 5 or lower, he will insulate the top order from a batting collapse which should give players like AB, Faf, Duminy the confidence to play their natural attacking game with the re-assurance of Kallis to follow. Question is, would Kallis be receptive to such a change? Would his ego allow it?

flavoidastic
on November 26, 2012, 10:55 GMT

South Africa, being a strong side still depends so much on Kallis, speaks volumes about the quality of this player.I wonder why his name does not appear in all time greats??

ihaq1
on November 26, 2012, 11:11 GMT

south africans should do something about abie de villers...maybe play the other wicketkeeper and tell him to just do batting practice for three days

ihaq1
on November 26, 2012, 11:13 GMT

south africa should also drop imran tahir and give peterson the spinners mantle

ozwriter
on November 26, 2012, 12:13 GMT

dean elgar should come in for rudolph, and philander for tahir. then the bowling line up looks like steyn, morkel, philander, kleinveld and part timers faf and elgar. rudolph is undoubtedly the weakest link in the batting line up.

anton1234
on November 26, 2012, 12:13 GMT

I think Kallis will play and more of his last few years (barring injury forcing retirement) as a batsman rather than as an allrounder. I think he will give himself every chance of overtaking Tendulkar in the alltime centuries list if he concentrates on batting alone. But I have a feeling he will want to get to 300 test wickets (18 away, which will probably take 5 to 7 matches when he starts bowling again) before he gives up bowling completely.

jmcilhinney
on November 26, 2012, 13:05 GMT

It's really quite scary that Kallis has been one of the best few batsman in the world for so long, if not the best, and yet is probably the best fifth bowler going too and could probably make quite a few four-man attacks around the world too. What a talent! There's no doubt that losing Pattinson was a blow to Australia that may well have cost them this last Test match but Kallis could have contributed more for SA in all four innings without his injury so it's debatable which was worse for their team.

argylep
on November 26, 2012, 13:08 GMT

@ flavoidastic.. Rest easy as even tho' this website & forums have sometimes
been less than effusive about their praise for this man to say nothing of the
past/present pundits & correspondents who've written questionable articles on
and about him he was before this match and will remain after he's retired a true
undeniable great of the game. He is a COLUSSUS for SA cricket!! - the best
batsman they've ever produced and in terms of bald statistics quite simply the
greatest cricketer to have played the modern game. However it will only be
when he's finished will he receive the plaudits he richly deserves. Not only is he
a phenomenal player on the field he is also a class act off as not only do I
regard myself very fortunate to have watched such a great batsman - easily
the best white one I've ever seen - and get big runs everytime but humbled to
have met, spoken, and shared all things cricket with him.